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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

A Strange Combination

Something new, today- fog. This place is the strangest combination of weather and environment that we could have imagined. It is really nothing like we thought it would be.

To begin with- the vegetation is so varied. There are real strange wind-swept pines, almost all over and even growing at the edge of the dunes and right onto some of the beaches (reminds us of Carmel, California). Many are almost limbless until they reach 15-20' and on the coast many lean with the wind. Right next to the pines you will see palm trees, birds of paradise and all sorts of tropical plants.

Then the weather- rain (yes), wind (yes), fog (now I can say yes) and sun (plenty of it) all in less than 2 weeks. In fact, while the northern hemisphere is just entering its long awaited summer, we just entered the first day of winter (on Monday or Saturday, depending on who you ask). Yes, I looked at the weather forecast for this coming week and the winter here is going to be brutal. Daytime temperatures will be ranging from 16- 20 degrees. Before you offer your condolances- may I point out that this is Celsius- so the temperatures are actually 60-68 degrees farenheit (brrr).

Then there are lots and lots of birds. Haven't really seen one, but parakeets (rather large by all accounts) seem to be prolific. While I haven't seen them- you can hear them in the mornings. And it is a rather strange mixture: pine trees and palms, fog and the haunting tropical bird calls, reminiscent of some jungle.